Quantum theory of optical pulse propagation through an absorbing and dispersive slab

Abstract

We apply a recently developed scheme for electromagnetic field quantization in dispersive and absorbing dielectrics to calculate the effects of perpendicular propagation through a finite-temperature dielectric slab on the properties of an incident pulse of light. The theory applies to incident pulses of nonclassical light and also reproduces the results for classical pulses in the appropriate limit. The transmitted pulse is assumed to be measured by a detector that receives radiation only from the direction normal to the slab surfaces. The Poynting vector of the transmitted light includes contributions from the incident pulse, whose shift in peak position and additional broadening or narrowing are determined, and from the thermal emission of the slab, which tends to a black-body form in the appropriate limits.